Industrial hemp offers a non-psychoactive, less controversial alternative to cannabis

Advocates and investors riding the current cannabis policy roller coaster are turning an optimistic eye to the industrial hemp sector, as its cannabis industry sibling battles for respectability and legalization in the United States.

Over the last three years, Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTC: MCOA) has observed the political changes in the U.S., with regard to hemp and cannabis regulation at the local, state and federal levels. With this knowledge, the company is navigating its way through multiple state regulatory systems, court decisions and public opinion to build a market position to develop and drive innovative product development and distribution.

MCOA delivers turnkey products and services to consumers in U.S. states where the cannabis plant’s derivatives have been legalized. While federal drug policy continues to target state-by-state normalization of cannabis for medicinal and recreational use, MCOA’s hempSMART subsidiary is turning out branded products containing industrial hemp-derived, non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) formulations for retail distribution via an affiliate marketing model.

Although 2018 began with the advancement of new state laws legalizing cannabis and hemp – most notably in California, the world’s fifth largest economy – Attorney General Jeff Sessions reaffirmed on January 4, 2018, that cannabis remains illegal under federal law. Sessions concurrently rescinded previous Obama-era federal prosecutorial guidance on state-legalized cannabis and hemp that allowed states having strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems the discretion to regulate the production and distribution of cannabis and hemp, as long as the state-enacted rules were consistent with federal priorities. Cue multiple lawsuits around the country and Congressional debate over the propriety of existing cannabis laws. These repeated flare-ups in drug policy have left many cannabis investors nervous (http://nnw.fm/g8PIx), but other industry insiders have seen the cannabis debate as a boon to the less controversial industrial hemp plant, which contains less than 0.3 percent THC.

In 2004, the Hemp Industry Association won a Ninth Circuit Court decision to allow hemp products with less than 0.3 percent THC to be distributed legally, and hemp production was legalized nationwide for university research under the 2014 Farm Bill.

MCOA has now been an active player in the North American cannabis and hemp markets for the past three years (http://nnw.fm/xfMn6). The company has ensured, via clear and regular communications with the markets, customers, affiliates and media, that the development of hempSMART’s range of non-psychoactive products has been transparent, informed and compliant. hempSMART’s new take on wellness products include formulations for the brain, pain and Full Spectrum Drops. Newly-launched products include pain cream and, for our four-legged friends, Pet Drops.

MCOA also recently partnered with Convenient Hemp Mart, LLC to develop the “BeniHemp” CBD brand. Currently in development, BeniHemp will be targeted for sale in convenience stores, gas stations, smoke shops and similar types of small retail businesses focused on the impulse buyer, with its products located at the cash register. The BeniHemp brand is expected to offer a range of topicals, tinctures and edibles. With its unique national marketing and distribution plans, BeniHemp will work with its partners to create recognition for CBD wellness and personal care products.

On February 15, 2018, Goldman Small Cap Research, a stock market research firm specializing in the small cap and microcap sectors, released a white paper (http://nnw.fm/Vn4wY)
in which it predicts that the overall CBD market in the U.S.
will grow from a base of $262 million in 2016 to something
exceeding $1.15 billion by 2020.